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Eliot Franklin (Earth-616)
; (formerly) , , , , , , , | Relatives = | Universe = Earth-616 | BaseOfOperations = | Gender = Male | Height = 6'6" | Weight = 350 lbs | Eyes = Brown | Hair = Black | UnusualFeatures = | Citizenship = United States of America | MaritalStatus = | Occupation = Professional criminal; former government agent, physicist, engineer | Education = PhD in physics | Origin = | PlaceOfBirth = Buffalo, New York City | Creators = Len Wein; Sal Buscema | First = Defenders #17 | Quote = | Speaker = | HistoryText = A brilliant scientist turned brutal career criminal, Dr. Eliot Franklin was once a rising star in physics. Nicknamed "the black Bruce Banner" for his expertise in the gamma radiation research pioneered by Banner, Franklin began working to miniaturize Banner's infamous gamma bomb at Caltech. He later continued these experiments as a research scientist at Richmond Enterprises, inventing a baseball-sized compact gamma bomb ten times as powerful as Banner's original device. He showed off his prototype to unscrupulous Richmond executive J.C. Pennyworth, who promptly confiscated the bomb and Franklin's notes, and patented the device in Richmond Enterprises' name. A furious Franklin protested that he had built the bomb on his own time, but a gloating Pennysworth revealed the fine print of Franklin's contract gave Richmond complete legal ownership of the invention despite this. Caught trying to steal back his bomb from Richmond's main laboratory, Franklin fled through an adjoining steel mill, pursued by security guards. The guards shot the bomb out of Franklin's hands while apprehending him, and it fell into a vat of molten steel. Knowing this steel would be used to construct three new Richmond skyscrapers in Manhattan, and that the bomb's Adamantium casing would preserve it, Franklin resolved to retrieve his bomb if he ever regained his freedom. Sent to prison, Franklin befriended fellow inmates Dirk Garthwaite, Brian Phillip Calusky and Henry Camp. As the super-strong costumed criminal Wrecker, Garthwaite had been mystically empowered by Asgardian sorceress Karnilla when she mistook him for fellow Asgardian Loki Laufeyson. Stripped of his powers after being electrocuted during a battle with Asgardian warrior Thor Odinson, Garthwaite believed his lost power had actually been channeled into his signature weapon, a crowbar, and electricity could release it. Though deprived of his crowbar, Wrecker had paid people to track its whereabouts while he was jailed. Escaping prison with his three friends' aid, Garthwaite offered to share his power with them. Retrieving the crowbar, the four men grasped it simultaneously and lifted it skyward during a massive thunderstorm unti lightning struck it. The lightning released the crowbar's stored Asgardian magical energy, channeling it into all four men and endowing each of them with a quarter of the Wrecker's original power. Franklin, Calusky and Camp adopted costumed identities as Thunderball, Piledriver and Bulldozer, respectively, forming a super-criminal quartet with the Wrecker as the Wrecking Crew. | Powers = | Abilities = | Strength = | Weaknesses = | Equipment = | Transportation = | Weapons = Thunderball's Ball and Chain | Notes = }}